Musical-instrument support.



No. 819,962. PATENTED MAY 8, 1906. E. S. VOTEY. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTSUPPORT. 7

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 23, 1905.

3 SHEETSSHEBT l.

PATENTED MAY 8, 1906.

B. S. VOTEY.

MUSIGAL INSTRUMENT SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.23, 1905.

? SHEETSSHEET 2.

Inventor: EvwiN S.VoTE\y A ttyJ,

PATENTED MAY 8, 1906.

E. S. VOTEY. MUSICAL INSTRUMENT SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 23, 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3,

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UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIoE- EDWIN S. VOTEY, OF SUMMIT, NEW JERSEY.ASSIGNOR TO AEOLIAN 1 COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,A CORPORATION OFOONNEOTIOUT.

MUSICAL-INSTRUMENT SUPPORT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May'S, 1906.

Application filed January 23, 1905. sellal NO- 242,266-

To all whom, it may Concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN S. VoTEY, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Summit, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Musical-InstrumentSupports, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to supports for musical instruments. It providessuch a support with minimum interference with the vibration of the frameand case of the instrument.

It is of course well known that any vibrating body producing a musicalsound has in addition to its fundamental tone more or fewer overtonesand that upon the combination and regulation of these depends the timbreof the instrument. Heretofore, however, no attention has been paid tosupporting a musical instrument as a whole so as to permit its completeand partial vibrations. I have discovered that the tonee. g., of a pianohaving horizontally-disposed strings and soundingboardsis enriched intimbre by so supporting its case at nodal points or along nodal lines asto support its case, as specified in the annexed claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a grand'piano embodyingmy invention. Fig. 2 is a somewhat conventionalized plan view of thesame centrally broken away to show the attachment of the support. Fig. 3is a view similar to that of Fig. 1, showing a modification of thesupport. Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the upper portion of the supportshown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a front view of a square piano embodying myinvention. Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the upper portion of thesupport.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, 1 designates the case of agrand piano, the

bottom of which may be provided, if desired,with a reinforcing orthickening ortion 11, as shown, and 2 the pedestal t erefor, consistingof a central columnar portion 21, 'a plurality of diverging arms 22,having webs 23 at their outer ends connected by screws or bolts 24 withthe bottom of the case 1 of the piano, and diverging legs 25,

having at their outer ends feet 26, which are shown as provided with theusual casters 27. The arms 22 and legs 25 are shown as three in number,making the support of the wellknown tripod form. It will be noted thatthe webs 23 are elevated above the upper surface of the arms 22, so thatthese alone engage with the bottom of the piano-case. The length,proportion, and direction of these radially-diverging arms 22 willnecessarily differwith pianos of diflerent shapes, as square or grand,but will always be so arranged that the webs 23 shall be separated fromeach other and spaced away a substantial' distance from the periphery ofthe case. It is obvious that the column 21 is located for securitys sakeapproximately beneath the center of mass of the instrument and that theradially-diverging legs 25 may be of any desired length and contour toafford a safe base for the instrument. I have shown the lyre 3 with itspedals 31 as supported from the column 21 of the pedestal 2; but it isobvious that this forms no essential eature of my invention.

In Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings I have shown the support consisting ofthe parts above described'with the addition of an annulus 28, which maybe secured to the base of the piano by bolts passing through aperturesshown therein. It is obvious that the ring or annulus 28 may be made solight as to partake of the vibrations of the bottom of the case 1 orsufiiciently rigid to define the vibrating areas and itself form a nodalline.

Fig. 5 shows a front view of a sqaure piano having a pedestal similar tothat shown in Fig. 1, except that the radially-diverging arms and legs22 and 25, respectively, are shown as four in number. As in the figuresfirst described, the webs 23 at the ends of the arms 22 form the soleconnection between the pedestal of the instrument and should be sodisposed and of such a length as to be approximately the nodal points ofvibration of the-bottom of the frameand case of the instrument. It isfound in practice that a grand or square piano supported on a pedestalor unitary support having diverging arms the ends of which are securedto the bottom of the case at points remote'i. e., spaced away asubstantial distance from its pe- ICC fications in the form of my deviceto indicate that I am not to be limited to the particular forms shownany more than to the material employed.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. In a piano, a horizontally-disposed case, and a unitary supporttherefor, said support being secured to said case at a plurality ofpoints separate from each other and remote from the periphery of thecase.

2. In a piano, a horizontally-disposed case and a unitary supporttherefor, said support having diverging arms, the outer ends of ingWitnesses.

EDWIN S. VOTEY. Witnesses:

D. O. I'IEINS, F. H. HUGHES.

